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Puyol hopes to be back for FC Barcelona's preseason

Doctor Pruna confirms that the captain successfully underwent surgery this morning and that a Baker's cyst was extracted from the player's right knee. Puyol is expected to be released from hospital this afternoon
"The goal is for Puyol to start training on the 15th or 16th of July with the rest of the team," says Pruna

Ricard Pruna / PHOTO: GERMÁN PARGA-FCB

Carles Puyol underwent knee surgery this morning at the Knee Unit of the Catalan Institute of Traumatology and Medicine of Sport (ICATME - Quirón Dexeus). “The surgery, during which a Baker’s cyst was extracted, lasted about 35 minutes. We hope, if there aren’t any setbacks, that the player will be able to return home this afternoon,” said Doctor RicardPruna.

Pruna also explained that Puyol's expected recovery time is between three to four weeks and he expects the player to be back in training with the team by mid July.

“We don’t do surgery on a whim”

Pruna was clear that the “player didn’t undergo surgery on a whim.” He added, “Puyol interrupted and sacrificed the remainder of his vacation to end the dragging discomfort he’s had in his knee. He wants to be in top shape for the preseason.”

The doctor went on to explain that Puyol has been battling with this knee injury for the past two years: “this knee [problem] has a history of about two years. In this time he’s undergone two arthroscopic surgeries to remedy the injury. In the second surgery excess cartilage waste was cleared from his knee.”

He added: “he continued to have problems three months after his second arthroscopic surgery. After conducting tests we realised that we had to remove the Baker’s cyst, which impeded his knee flexibility. Puyol's cyst was chronic in nature, and there was loose material inside [of the cyst].”

Pruna explained that nearly half of the population have a Baker’s cyst and that “other first team players have it as well, but they do not have to undergo procedures.”

Messi and Neymar

In addition to Puyol, Pruna also fielded questions concerning Leo Messi and Neymarda Silva. On the Argentinian, the doctor noted that the injury the player sustained against PSG “was bad timing due to the team’s schedule. This didn’t allow us to work with the necessary calmness or work as slowly as we would have liked.We fashioned a recovery plan tailored specifically to the team’s circumstances and we suggested, if possible, he not play against PSG.He did play however, and that disrupted our plans. From that point we reevaluated the situation. You cannot rush a muscle injury. His injury didn’t worsen, in fact it started to heal despite him playing and training – this is highly difficult to achieve. But the most prudent course of action is to stop. If he had picked up the injury at the beginning of December, he would have been back by the beginning of January.”

On FC Barcelona’s first signing ahead of next seasons, Neymar Jr, Pruna said that his “first impression is that Neymar needs to gain a pound or two.” He added: “our medical inspection was done quickly and his weight is just another data point. We’ll get to know the player over the course of the season and we’ll constantly add to our data input. With this information we’ll know what his ideal weight should be. The first impression is that he weighs 64.5 kilos and he has a tendency to lose weight – perhaps he needs to add a kilo or two, but I can’t say exactly how many.”